She called her new assistant by the wrong name and didn't care. Her coffee had to be on her desk first thing — hot — or else. She didn't want to hear an excuse, she just wanted it done. No matter what "it" was.

Thus are the traits of the devil boss in the movie "The Devil Wears Prada." Walking out of the theater, I could hear murmurs and whispers that went something like this: "I had a boss like that. One time he. ... "

Not a week goes by without e-mails from readers lamenting awful bosses who leave them cowering in a corner, weakened on weekends and wishing for a new job.

We can't escape the boss-as-devil, even if we don't (currently) have one ourselves.

Just think of all the horrid fictional bosses, past and present: Ari Gold in "Entourage," the crass, offensive, demanding agent whose loyal assistant, Lloyd, is beaten down episode after episode. Mr. Dithers, the abusive boss in the comic strip Blondie. Montgomery Burns of "The Simpsons," evil as evil can be. Horrendous Scrooge from Dickens' novel. And don't forget Darth Vader — not only an evil boss, but also a loud breather. Ick.

Just how prevalent are evil bosses? A Monster poll says 70 percent of workers think they have a "toxic boss." Ken Siegel, an organizational consultant and psychologist, said evil bosses keep his profession alive. Siegel typically coaches executives who find it difficult to manage people.

"They are extraordinarily well-represented in the managerial ranks," he said. "Most devil bosses are relatively unaware of how they affect the people around them. That provides them with well-grounded excuses of their errant ways."

The most common excuse: Fear can be a motivator. Well, yeah, it can, but that doesn't mean you end up with great employees.

Most bosses who are feared by their employees have mastered the art of "managing up," Siegel said. Those are the people who are able to align their beliefs and values with those of their bosses and present themselves as a representative of their people. But they aren't. They are good followers and will do anything to please those above them.

"People don't quit companies. They quit people," Siegel said, noting that quitting is the easiest and best way to take some power back from a boss.

The AFL-CIO is holding a "My Bad Boss Contest" at www.work ingamerica.org/badboss, where people can post their boss horror stories. One boss, for example, charged his employees for not coming to work on Sept. 11, 2001, even though the patients all canceled their appointments. Another was a gambler whose habit meant he sometimes couldn't pay his employees. One Friday, he presented an employee with slot machine payout slips.

But sometimes the overtly evil boss isn't as bad as the managers who are too laid back to motivate anyone or the passive-aggressive bosses. At least with the overtly evil boss, "you always know where you stand," said William Krug, professor of organizational leadership at Purdue University. "Basically, you can learn to live with them. If it's a consistent personality, you learn how to approach them, how to present ideas to them, what their hot buttons are so you know how to stay away from them."

Krug recalled a screamer boss he had in the Navy: "At least he was a consistent screamer. I knew when to approach him or not."

Krug categorizes bad bosses into four types: controllers, analyzers, promoters and supporters. Controllers are demanding and insist things be done their way; analyzers like a lot of information but have trouble making decisions; promoters are enthusiastic, dislike detail, make quick decisions but often lack follow-up; and supporters are seen as the "nice" bosses who consider their workers' feelings but can be taken advantage of. Workers can use this information to figure out how to handle a bad boss, Krug said.